Reviews

(My first review on IMDb EVER. I don't know why I feel so strongly about defending this movie.)

As a summer tentpole, Man of Steel delivers. It's sprawling, feels epic, and is loaded with enough booms and bangs to keep the popcorn going. But don't let that distract you from the story: the origin is properly managed, and although it does look back to Donner's take on Superman II, it's been given a fresh spin.

Let's face it, he's called SUPERman. They've made him out to be a god on earth, and the action is adequately OTT to address it. This isn't a movie that's meant to be taken seriously; if you can believe a man can fly, you should be able to appreciate the outrageous action.

This is clearly not The Dark Knight, but you'll at least leave the cinema with a hint of a smile on your face, and feeling that the money spent was actually worth it.

High spot: Seeing Russel Crowe as Jor-el. What a fella. Low spot: The last 20 minutes fell a bit flat - but they weren't dull. Feels like: Big, loaded with thrills and spills.

The first thing I thought to myself when I saw the opening space battle was that Lucas' faith in CGI was founded, and I did understand why he opted for CGI as opposed to the old-school models that we found so appealing. It was always said that the beauty of A New Hope was the opening; once the audience bought it, you had them where you wanted them. The same can be said of Revenge of the Sith. It didn't live up to all our expectations…in a way, that'd be hard to do…but with that said, I went out of the cinema thinking that it wasn't too shabby, which is more than what I can say for the memories that were Episode One and (the significantly better) Episode Two. I still don't buy Lucas' statements that the Star Wars story is Anakin's story; I see it as one big mix of nuts.

I would recommend that everyone sees it, but the real people who would see it are probably those who've kept up with the story since the beginning…in some way, it'd probably mean a lot more to them than it would someone who's riding on the wave of hype that the movie has understandably raised. There were some bits that we'd all cringe at…the perfect example would be the ultracheesy dialogue between Padme and Anakin. But if you think about it, it fits Star Wars…and who knows? People from long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away might have spoken like that. And you can definitely feel the matinée-like atmosphere that Lucas has been so desperately trying to raise with the previous two episodes. In a sense, it's like he decided to sit back, relax and roll with this one. I suppose that he just decided to dump the pressure and have some fun.

Extra kudos goes to Obi-Wan and Anakin's traded banter in the beginning. It felt like a buddy-cop movie of sorts. Also, Artoo is one resilient droid…but it does give some sense of satisfaction seeing him kicked around. Literally. According to some friends watching, the Millennium Falcon makes a brief cameo. I couldn't see it…aw, well. There's always the next viewing to try to catch it.

I brought a lightsaber to the premiere here in Kuala Lumpur. It was a big hit with the ladies. I wish. There're not enough fanatics here to start a cult.